Phantom
by lunarmira
Summary: After the aftermath of the Fourth Ninja war and it's tragedies, Gaara is forced to leave Suna. Neji's team races to find him, but can they before another war breaks out... and does he even want to be found?
1. Chapter 1

_**Phantom  
**_

_**AN: **__Gah I'm so sorry for the lack of updates! My compie crashed and then my muse for _Fragile_ hitched a ride for Memphis! _

_Or was it Vegas… I'm never sure with her. O.o_

_And then I got kidnapped by a bunch of slash fan girls, and have been writing a bit for them. (actually, that's a lot of good fun, but as it includes shameless self-insertion, I'm not posting it on )_

_Anyhoo, whilst I send out the bounty hunters to get my muse back so I can finish _Fragile_, here's a lil something to keep you Neji/Gaara fans satiated. _

_As always Naruto and it's characters do not belong to me. And the song is written by Paul Williams and is from the movie _Phantom of the Paradise_._

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* * *

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_**Chapter One**  
_

_

* * *

_

_To work it out, I let them in_

_All the good guys and the bad guys that I've been,_

_All the devils that disturbed me, and the angels that defeated them somehow_

_Come together in me now._

_

* * *

_

He opened teal eyes to stare at the stars above him. How long had he been out here? Days? Weeks? Months? He couldn't remember. It seemed that he was always part of this desert, the grains of sand certainly answered to his call as easily as breathing.

Sitting up, he tried to concentrate on what it was he was doing out here, all alone with no civilization for miles around.

_The war… _he focused on that thought, _But it's over. _

_Not entirely, _that pesky little voice spoke up, the one that reminded him always of who he used to be, _They gave you up after they won remember? The Daimyo didn't like the alliances that you made, your attempt at so called peace. He sold you out._

As always, he ignored the voice, standing up and looking towards the horizon as he felt something disturb the desert.

_Solders or ninja? _He took a step and suddenly he was in the sands, reappearing near the place where he felt the movement, a small round house that was near one of the few watering wells in the desert.

Three men in black outfits and turbans, and despite the Suna headbands he did not recognize one of them, holding up a small girl as a forth dragged a woman out of her home, "Time to pay the tribute."

"I sent the fleece," she cried, "I have no money!"

"We don't protect for trade goods," one of the men laughed and he brought a knife to the girl's throat.

And that was the last move any of the four assailants made before the wind picked up and suddenly they were buried beneath the dunes.

Gaara walked across the sands, and helped the child up, leading her quietly to her mother.

"Th…thank you," the woman breathed.

But she and the child were alone. The former Kazekage had already vanished.

* * *

"That's the fourth report of this type this week," Temari said as she went through the scrolls, "He's out there… somewhere, but damnit, he never stays long enough for us to pinpoint where."

Across from her Neji sat with his hands folded as the gennin who brought her the latest report of the Phantom's sighting, someone that both were increasingly becoming certain that was Gaara, left the tent.

It was bad enough that the Fourth Ninja War ended with Naruto's and Sasuke's death… even worse was when the Daimyo of the different nations refused to go along with the new found peace, instead opting to make themselves richer by continuing the war.

The biggest blow came when Suna and Konoha… and Neji suspected some of the other hidden villages… had a complete change of government, else they face losing the Daimyo's protection.

Gaara was the first to be outed. He had placed the hat on the desk, looked at the council with cold teal eyes…

And disappeared into grains of sand that drifted away with the wind.

"He's still protecting who he can," Lee spoke up as he looked through the scrolls, "That's good news."

"It would be even better if we knew where he was though," Neji said quietly, "He could help us."

He, Lee, and Tenten were here because of what had happened in Konoha… and that betrayal hurt a good deal more than the Hyuuga would admit.

"_What do you mean?" he snapped, "We're just supposed to let their sacrifices be for nothing?" _

_Too many people had died in this last war. Neji wasn't sure if Lee would ever be able to recover from Gai's sacrifice… and then Naruto…_

_There was only one member left on Team Seven now. And she wasn't leaving the confines of her house... if she was still alive in there at all._

"_I lost people as well!" Hinata retorted, "I was left as the Head, and I have made this decision. I don't expect you to understand."_

_She almost said it, and he narrowed his eyes, "No I couldn't understand could I? A lowly branch member has no right telling the head of the main house anything… not even when she votes against the very thing that the one she claims to have loved all these years died for."_

"_I voted that way to save this clan!" she said, "They would have destroyed us if I didn't."_

_He turned from her then, "Perhaps it is for the best that the clan be destroyed." with that he jumped away, not once looking back._

"Neji?" Temari asked, bringing his thoughts back to the present, "Did you hear what I said?"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I was…" he chewed his lip unsure as to how to continue.

"We've been reflecting on our pasts a lot lately haven't we," she mused, "I was thinking that maybe we could send you, Tenten, and Lee as a forward team to where he was last sighted. Maybe you guys can find him."

"That's an excellent idea!" Lee said happily.

Neji slowly nodded, "It'll be difficult if he doesn't want to be found, but…" he slowly smiled, "I don't see any harm that it could bring. And perhaps he has an idea of how the enemy patterns are moving."

He stood up, "We'll leave immediately."

"Good," Temari smiled, albeit sadly, with Gaara's disappearance and Kankuro's death in the war, very few things made her happy these days.

Neji figured it was one of the things that made her such a good leader for the rag-tag group of nin that had banded together, not liking what had happened to their homes after the war.

_I wonder if there's more… there were rumors that she was involved with Shikamaru… _he shook his head at the thought. Shikamaru was one of the few that stayed in Konoha, stating that it was a bad idea to start a new war that they had no hope of winning.

But then, why would he leave… he was the new Hokage, even if he was nothing more than a figure-head, a puppet of the new council.

_The world is certainly cracked now isn't it,_ Neji sighed, "Come on Lee, we better go grab Tenten from the armory."

* * *

He was dreaming again, this time not of Shukaku or those memories, but of the war… the lives lost…

_Too many…_

Opening his eyes, he stared up at the stars again, "What did they die for?" he quietly asked.

There was no answer from the wind or the sand… but then, there wasn't an answer to that question at all. The deaths of his brother, of his friends, of their teachers… they were meaningless.

Not a single thing that they had fought for came to pass. The world wasn't any better. There was no peace…

If anything the world now seemed worse, he mused as he thought about the men that were about to rape and kill the little girl and her mother. That wasn't the first time he had stopped that sort of thing from happening since he came here.

Another disturbance in the sand, and he narrowed his eyes, _Who would be traveling this deep into the desert?_

He stood and stepped into the wind.

* * *

"We should stop and make camp!" Tenten yelled over the harsh winds, "We're pretty far in, and we don't know much about traveling in the desert!"

Neji shielded his eyes from the flying grains of sand, the byakuguan glowing, "There's an oasis ahead," he shouted back, "We should head there."

Lee seemed to be the only one undisturbed by the sudden storm, "This is almost like old times isn't it?" he called, "Remember our first mission?"

Neji had a wry smile on his face as he heard the words, "You're not challenging me every second, Lee. And Tenten's not going on and on about female rights."

She giggled at that, "And you're not telling us how pathetic and weak we all are, Neji. Other than that, yeah, it is almost like that first mission."

The winds died down a small bit, and the other two saw the small oasis the Hyuuga was speaking of, "We'll make camp and start again when the sun sets," Neji said, "I should have listened a bit better to Temari's warnings of desert travel."

"It's good to know you're still as arrogant as ever," Tenten said crossing her arms and Lee nodded, "I would worry some if you didn't act like you knew everything."

He smirked, "Lee, you took down what she was saying…" he stopped and whipped his head around.

"Neji?" Lee asked with wide eyes.

"Gone… but he was here," the Hyuuga whispered, then sighed, "Let's make camp. I just realized that this mission is going to be more difficult than we thought."

"How so?" Tenten asked.

"We're trying to find a desert creature… that doesn't want to be found… in his natural element," Neji's eyes scanned the surrounding area, "We're going to have to get him to come to us."

* * *

As soon as Neji's head moved indicating that he had seen with the byakugaun, Gaara stepped back, letting the sand carry him away.

_I'm not ready… why are they here?_

He leaned against a rock as he sat down, _What is it that they want? Are things as bad in Konoha as they were in Suna? Should I go back?_

He shook his head, he had promised himself that he would stay here, far away from the world that no longer wanted him, that had betrayed them all.

"Are they here for the same reason?" he whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Phantom**_

_**AN: **__As you can tell from the first chapter this is a darker story than those I usually write. But I'm enjoying the creation for it and I hope that you guys are enjoying the reading. Some more on what happened in the past in this chappie.  
_

_Anyhoo, Naruto isn't mine and neither are it's characters. And this chappie's song excerpt is "Brokenpromiseland" by Bon Jovi. _

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_**Chapter Two

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_Let's close our eyes and just disappear_

_Slip through the cracks, no turning back._

_We'll get a million miles away from here,_

_And let the past just fade to black._

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* * *

_

_He was surprised when he got to the gates that there was no one there, he at least thought that he would have to lie his way out of Konoha._

_In fact he had one thought of, it wasn't out of the question that a jonin would have a solitary mission and by the time the paperwork would have been checked he would have been long gone._

_Neji didn't like how easy this was, "Bya…" a hand covered his mouth and he whipped around, glaring at whoever it was that snuck up so easily on him._

_Lee stood there, a finger on his lips, "Tenten took care of them," he whispered, "But we better hurry."_

"_What makes you think you're coming with me?" Neji shot in a angry hushed voice._

_Lee smiled, "Because we're a team, remember. As soon as we heard what had happened, we knew you would be leaving," he gave the Hyuuga a hurt look, "We also knew that you would be too prideful to get us first. So we figured that we would meet you here."_

Pearl eyes opened to see Lee poking at the fire, "It's after sunset," Neji noted sitting up, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"We decided to make the base here, right?" the taijutsu master hugged his knees, "You haven't really slept that much lately, so I decided to let you. Tenten's still out too." he gave a glance over to where she had set up a make shift tent before turning back to Neji, "Do you think he's alright?"

"Are any of us?" the Hyuuga mused as he sat down next to Lee, staring at the fire.

"Mmm," Lee poked the fire some more, giving it a serious look, "Temari-chan must be pretty worried to send us out here like this though."

"There's a secondary mission," Neji said quietly, "The Land of Wind's western border is near here, even though the desert goes on. She's hoping that maybe we can find a new home, away from the Five Nations."

"Maybe Gaara's already found a place like that," Lee suggested.

"Perhaps. Though it's more likely that he's staying away from people altogether," Neji sighed, "I'm worried about him," he said in a quiet voice, "He was close to Naruto near the end… and he fought the most for the peace after…" he couldn't bring himself to say it, even now it was still painful that the bright spot of Konoha was gone forever.

Lee slowly nodded and Neji looked over at him, "When was the last time _you_ got any sleep?"

A bright blush went over the other man, "Uh… sometime…" The truth of the matter is that he was having as difficult a time with rest as most everyone else these days… the war seemed to have that affect on everyone.

"I thought so," the Hyuuga sighed, "Go on. I'll keep watch. We'll start the search in earnest in the morning."

Lee stood, "It's still not that easy," he said glumly.

"Take one of the pills that Sekka prescribed you," Neji said, staring back at the fire, then turned as his teammate walked away, "Lee…"

"Yes?"

_Why don't you blame me for Gai-sensei's death?_

He couldn't ask that question though, even after the year that had passed since then, and merely shook his head, "Thanks for not letting me leave alone."

"That's what family is for," Lee grinned, even though the smile was not as bright as it used to be.

Still, Neji was glad for it.

* * *

"Temari!" a messenger came into her tent, "It seems that there's a series of scouts on the move."

"Get ready to break up camp then," she said, not even looking up from her map, "We can't let them find us."

He nodded and ran off, to inform the others of her decision.

"_One of these days you're going to have to stop running."_

"We're not strong enough to fight yet," she whispered, blinking tears back at the voice that sounded suspiciously like Kankuro's… one that had been haunting her since his death, "There's only a handful of us here. We need to find another home."

"_And what are you gonna do when you get there? Geeze, to think Baby brother used to call _my _plans half-assed."_

"Look if you have a better idea," her head whipped up and she stared at the blank wall of the tent.

"Lady Temari?" a voice asked as Sekka entered the tent, "I came to check your wounds before we move."

She turned her attention to the medical nin, one of the few that had came with her out of Suna.

…or dragged her unconscious body out… depended on how you wanted to look at things.

_It wasn't fair! He had won the war for them, Suna prospered under Gaara's rule. She was outraged at his ousting. _

"_Is this really how you want to remember him?" she cried, standing on a crate in the bazaar, "He gave up everything for us!"_

"_He was a monster!" someone called out to her._

"_No!" she snapped, "He got control over it… you all followed him in the last war! Why are you leaving him now? After all that's happened?"_

_Black robed men entered the square._

"_Because of him we're broke! He squandered the money."_

"_He never did!" Temari retorted as she placed her hands on her hips, "He had plans for us to get trade routes ourselves, for Suna to be able to hold it's own in this world of peace."_

_She wasn't sure who threw the first stone. It was only through sheer will power and the memory that these were once her friends, people she had sworn to protect with her brothers that she stood there without retaliation._

_The stones didn't hurt near as much as the betrayal. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the black robed men start to move towards her, the throwing stopped as people saw them, recognizing them for who they were, and vacated the area._

_The Death Guard… the assassination team Gaara had absolutely refused to use, not wanting to use fear to rule the village._

_It would seem the council and the new Kazekage had no problems with them._

_Temari was still standing as they faced her, proudly staring foward when they informed her that she was to be publicly executed for not following the new order._

_She spat at them… and that was the last thing she remembered before waking up in Sekka's arms, miles away from Suna._

"Worry about the other injured," she said, "Whoever can't walk we need to figure out how to carry."

"Other leaders would say to leave them," the medic crossed his arms, "I think that's why I liked your brother so much, he never would."

She ignored him, as other runners were coming in, asking for orders on moving the supplies and people, "We're going to follow Neji's team deeper into the desert," she said looking at her map, "Our information tells me that the squads are nervous about going very far into what they consider the 'Phantom territory.' If we go about fifty kilometers west, then we can avoid detection."

"What of Neji's team?"

"He knows that we might have to move at a second's notice, he'll be able to rendezvous with us anywhere."

* * *

The others were still asleep as Neji stood, scanning the surrounding area with the byakugaun, "Gaara…" he breathed.

He kept catching glimpses of the red-head's specific chakra signatures, but he was too quick, whenever the Hyuuga tried to focus more on them, Gaara would be gone.

Neji wryly smiled, remembering how well that skill had served them in the past. He had teased the younger man then.

"_One of these days you're simply going to blow away in the wind"… I never dreamed that I would actually be correct in saying those words to him._

Those had been much happier times though, despite the hardships… it was before the war really had gotten started, right after Naruto came back from that island.

Neji shook his head, concentrating instead on finding Gaara… at least catch…

_There. _He stared up at the cliffs overlooking the oasis, meeting…even if it was at a great distance… the teal eyes.

And even though it wasn't possible that Gaara could see his pearl orbs… he felt the former kage's attention set purely on him.

"_Gaara! I need to talk to you!" Naruto called as he entered the war room where Gaara was discussing the plans with some of the joint armies' jonin._

_Neji bit his lower lip to keep from laughing at the scowls some of the more seasoned nin had at the gennin's outright disrespect. "Lord Kazekage is a tad busy at the moment," he gently said._

"_Actually, I was about to dismiss the meeting," Gaara quickly added at Naruto's almost pout, the jonin got up to leave, but before Neji left, Gaara took him aside, "Hyuuga, if you would do me a favor, could you tell Lady Hokage that I won't make it on time for the next meeting she has scheduled."_

_The brunet looked over at Naruto who had crossed his arms and sat down, "Of course. And good luck." he left before Gaara could demand what he meant by that or by the teasing smile on his lips, sighing he turned to the blond._

"_What was it that was so important it couldn't have waited five minutes?"_

Gaara stared down at the brunet, "You knew the whole time didn't you," he mused, "You knew that I let him go to that last battle. Leave me to die alone with that sin."

Neji didn't move, instead just kept staring up at him. The former kage sighed, there was no way that the Hyuuga had heard him, the distance was just too great.

The brunet's mouth moved, and on the wind, Gaara could have sworn that he heard the words that he spoke.

"_You aren't the only one that let someone go."_


End file.
